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All things considered, it was a strong end to a largely miserable day for the Kaulig Racing driver who struggled with car balance across the 200-lap affair.
The #97 Chevrolet Camaro never looked like threatening the top 10 until Stage 3 when a small tyre advantage allowed him to race forward in the closing laps.
By the end of the race, van Gisbergen was running lap times equivalent to the race leaders having found speed on the high line.
“Looked good but didn’t drive very well,” van Gisbergen told FrontStretch for Speedcafe.
“Got lucky with the caution at the end and Kevin Walter (crew chief) and the guys, they were doing so many changes to try and get it at least handling right where I could be comfortable.
“I just learned to be up high and feel really comfortable up there.
“The wall kind of saved me countless times, which was fun. Then we got an amazing result out of it.
“Eighth was pretty good for how we ran most of the day really.”
The Kiwi chuckled as he recounted getting comfortable running up against the wall.
“The amount of times I joked on the radio, the amount of times I hit the wall at Turn 4 and the thing is still in the same bloody place, I didn’t make it any wider,” he laughed.
“But yeah, it was fun.”
For van Gisbergen, eighth represented a strong start to the NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.
He sits eight points above the cut-off line with two races to come before the bottom four are eliminated.
Talladega Superspeedway comes next on October 6 before the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 13.
“I’ve tried to approach it the same as I would any other weekend, especially at this place where It’s my first time here,” van Gisbergen explained.
“I sort of examined the Cup guys and what happened in Bristol, how people reacted under pressure. Thankfully, we had a good day. Plus eight on the board.
“We’re still near the cut line but you’ve just got to keep chipping away, have a decent week next week at Talladega then we should be fine at the ROVAL. Just got to get the simple things right.”
